/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.15434997]

What's your favorite piece of Chinese literature.

[Anonymous No.15436448]

>>15434997
The romance of the three kingdoms

[Anonymous No.15436473]

>>15434997
For me, it's Fortress Besieged by Qian Zhongshu, Cat Country by Lao She, and Outlaws of the Marsh by Shi Nai'an.

[Anonymous No.15436493]

For me, it's Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation

[Anonymous No.15436885]

>>15434997

[Anonymous No.15436974]

Dragonball GT

[Anonymous No.15437006]

>>15434997

[Anonymous No.15437007]

>>15434997
You just posted it.
And apparently shaolin monks like to act like Sun Wukong
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGhTPbhBSpw

[Anonymous No.15437105]

>>15437007
I was wondering, how come Sun Wukong is the only character people talk about from Journey to the West even though the protagonist is actually Sanzang?

[Anonymous No.15437121]

>>15437105
I haven't read Journey to the West, but Sagacious Lu is easily the best character in Outlaws of the Marsh even though Song Jiang is the leader of the rebellion.

[Anonymous No.15437139]

>>15436493
really not that well written. Good concept and story but the writing itself is meh compared to other xianxias

[Anonymous No.15437150]

>>15437105
because side characters of chinese novels are usually better than the straightlaced protagonists

[Anonymous No.15437169]

>>15437105
Sanzang is a whiny bitch, Pig is and asshole and Friar Sand is... just there.
Sun Wukong is an asshole too, but he is a fun asshole.

[Anonymous No.15437600]

Lu Xun's Diary of a Madman and Other Stories, the William Lyell translation

[Anonymous No.15437775]

Hanyang Type 88

[Anonymous No.15437794]

>>15437007
He's also really cool in peking opera:
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VOCDFIW4xg
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcIHJzqE96A

[Anonymous No.15437839]

>>15434997
>>15437007
Why do westerners like it so much? It's literally is Asian equivalent of the hobbit, only kids and child adults read it

[Anonymous No.15437851]

>>15437839
You mean, Lord of the Rings?

[Anonymous No.15437862]

>>15437839
>only kids and child adults read a 2000 page novel
>a novel that is considered one of the "four great classical novels" of an entire civilization is the equivalent of The Hobbit
How can one person be this dense? Journey to the West is more analogous to Beowulf. Do you also compare Macbeth to genre fiction because it's got witches in it? The Chinese Hobbit would be more like The Legend of the Condor Heroes.

[Anonymous No.15437866]

>For me it's jin ping mei

[Anonymous No.15437880]

>>15437862
>Long is good and not for children
>Great classics
For historical values and not much else
>Do you also compare Macbeth to genre fiction because it's got witches in it
Yes, If macbeth in it's entirely is about witches casting spells for funsies and wacky adventures

[Anonymous No.15437886]

>>15434997
>chinese
>literature

[Anonymous No.15437900]

>>15434997
Besides the I Ching, Tao te Ching, and Taichi Classics...

the Secret of the Golden Flower is pretty neat

[Anonymous No.15437909]

>>15437169
This, Sanzang did not deserve to become a Buddha, all he did was being a little bitch until the very end and fuck up all the time

[Anonymous No.15437922]

>>15434997
Six records of a floating life was a nice read. Currently reading the Scholars, which is surprisingly fun once you start writing down the names.

>>15437600
Lu Xun is to moralistic for me. It is really good literature for being so political, but this overly teaching attitude turns me off.

[Anonymous No.15437932]

Whose translation of Journey to the West should I read? I've taken a look at both of the major ones and Anthony C. Yu's is complete but it seems rather stiff, while Waley's is highly abridged but comes off as better written.

[Anonymous No.15437950]

>>15437932
personally i prefer translators who are great writers over scholarly translators

the best translators of Chinese lit i've come across are Waley, Watson and Hanan

[Anonymous No.15437955]

in addition to Lu Xun, here are some Chinese novels I enjoyed:

Liu E - The Travels of Lao Can
Wu Jianren - The Sea of Regret (i guess I like moralistic lit)
Chen Diexian - The Money Demon
Liu Heng - Black Snow
Zhang Xianliang - Grass Soup
Mo Yan - Life and Death are Wearing Me Out
Cao Naiqian - There's Nothing I Can Do When I Think of You Late at Night

[Anonymous No.15437973]

>>15437950
I tend to lean the same way so I'm glad someone agrees. I'll look into the other names you mentioned as well.

[Anonymous No.15438004]

>>15434997
That one book where the chinks stole Christmas from the burgers.

[Anonymous No.15438172]

>>15436448
this
https://files.catbox.moe/36uwk5.webm

[Anonymous No.15439279]

>heroes wander through the mountains
>little poem about mountains beauty
>some demon with some magic artifacts steals the monk to eat him
>Sun Wukong fights the demon
>little poem about the fight
>Sun Wukong defeats the demon and they continue their path
>Optionally: demon defeats Sun Wukong and he asks Sky Emperor/Bodhisattva Guanyin/Buddha/Jesus/Putin/Trump for help, then the demon is defeated and they continue their path
Enjoy the template above used chapter after chapter with minor alterations for almost four tomes. Author truly was paid by the line for his original battle shounen.

[Anonymous No.15439496]

>>15437105
Why do people talk about the Joker when the protagonist is actually Batman? Because the trickster is a way more interesting/fun character.

[Anonymous No.15439645]

>>15437105
The book does not start with the Sanzang. It start with monkey becoming important and wrecking the sky until rocked by Buddha.

[Anonymous No.15439819]

>>15439279
nothing wrong with that

[Anonymous No.15439826]

Governor of Nanke simply because it's the only one I can think of.

[Anonymous No.15439835]

>>15439279
My favorite part is when they get pregnant

[Anonymous No.15440188]

>>15439279
Sounds just like Iliad

[Anonymous No.15441460]

As a child I was impressed by Big Lin and Little Lin where chinese communist children killed capitalists with little iron balls.

[Anonymous No.15441661]

>>15441460
Sounds great.

[Anonymous No.15442106]

>>15437900
What are the Taichi Classics?

[Anonymous No.15442146]

>>15437006

[Anonymous No.15442190]

What do you guys think of 'White Deer Plain'?

[Anonymous No.15442240]

>>15434997
Sun Tzu's Art of War.

[Anonymous No.15443198]

>>15442106
The T'ai chi Classics is a collection of over 100 articles on the Chinese martial art of t'ai chi ch'uan written by the art's master practitioners over the centuries. They cover everything from the underlying Taiji philosophical principles, to methods of practice and application. Previously passed down in secret from generation to generation in whole or in parts through various lineages, they achieved classical status as they became public starting in the mid-1930s. Together they now serve as the single authoritative guide for the development and usage of Taijiquan skills.

[Anonymous No.15443945]

>>15442106
this:
>>15443198

also look at Baguazhang and Qigong documents and songs, particularly translated by Dr Yang

[Anonymous No.15444944]

>>15434997
chikky charlie chang wang chikka chaka choka cha lmao

[Anonymous No.15444951]

>All this ancient bullshit

/lit/ I...

[Anonymous No.15445067]

FUCK CHINA
FUCK CHINA
FUCK CHINA
FUCK CHINA
FUCK CHINA

[Anonymous No.15445202]

>>15444951
Ancient literature is generally better. This is true of all cultures.

[Anonymous No.15446303]

The Kingdom

[Anonymous No.15446321]

>>15437839
>implying The Hobbit isn't based

[Anonymous No.15446327]

>>15446321
Duhhhhh based?

[Anonymous No.15446349]

I wish I could have finished it, but the Water Margin.
I rented it out from the university library but I graduated and had to turn it in.
It's probably one of the most entertaining and comfy books I have ever read, and doesn't have a good western equivalent.

[Anonymous No.15446360]

Bought pic related recently. What am I getting into bród?

[Anonymous No.15446393]

>>15436473
>>15446349
>>15446360
Why is it called both "Water Margin" and "Outlaws of the Marsh"? Also, what does "Water Margin" mean?

[Anonymous No.15446414]

>>15446393
>Why is it called both "Water Margin" and "Outlaws of the Marsh"?
Difference in translation styles. 'Water Margin' is closer to the literal meaning, whereas 'Outlaws of the Marsh' was probably a decision to try get the basic plot of the story across. 'Water Margin' refers to the 'margins' or vicinity around a body of water. Marshland, more or less; which is where the heroes set up their base.

[Anonymous No.15447531]

When are they going to translate 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'?

[Anonymous No.15447560]

does Balzac and The Little Chinese Seamstress count?

[Anonymous No.15447585]

Nice thread
Come to think of it, I haven't read much Chinese lit.
I read Wolf Totem, but that was in highschool.
Now I'm going to get Inner Chapters by Chuang Tsu (or whatever the correct transcription is) from the library.

[Anonymous No.15447806]

>>15436448
I just read War & Peace (Maude trans.) and I need something similar.

the 1925 translation supposedly has bizarre spellings of names, but how else is it? The only other option I see is a 1991 one, which is sold both as abridged and unabridged

[Anonymous No.15447816]

>>15439279
>Author truly was paid by the line for his original battle shounen.
Aeneid still turned out ok though

[Anonymous No.15447892]

[Anonymous No.15447908]

>>15447806
This article makes me lean more towards the 1925,
https://www.medievalists.net/2018/10/which-translation-romance-three-kingdoms/

but apparently the first native speaker translated into english recently.
>Yu Sumei is a professor of English at East China Normal University. She has translated several English language books into Chinese and is the first native Chinese speaker to translate The Three Kingdoms into English.
The amazon page has a review quote from the "former Consul for Cultural Affairs for the PRC and advisor to the President of China", so it must be good

[Anonymous No.15447996]

>>15437139
t. JC x WWX shipper

[Anonymous No.15448039]

>>15434997
Zhuangzi.

[Anonymous No.15448057]

My sister is going to study Chinese in high school - what is some good supplementary material? I've already bought her a compilation of Tang poems.

[Anonymous No.15448191]

>>15448057
wtf is a tang poem? like the orange drink?

[Anonymous No.15448267]

>>15447996
bruh tf no, JC is not even a good character

[Anonymous No.15448278]

>>15448191
imagine being this retarded on /lit/

[Anonymous No.15448289]

>>15448057
tell her to read the 4 classical novels

[Anonymous No.15448348]

>>15448278
imagine thinking chinks have literature

[Anonymous No.15448511]

>>15448191
Are you sure 1000 years old poetry will help her with learning chinese in high school?

[Anonymous No.15448546]

>>15448348
>>15445067
Seething mutts

[Anonymous No.15449202]

>>15447908
>Tuttle published a new, three-volume translation of the novel, by Yu Sumei, edited by Ronald
C. Iverson. According to its publisher, this translation is an unabridged "dynamic translation" intended to be more readable than past English translations of the novel
What does "more readable" mean?

[Anonymous No.15449207]

>>15447531
Isn't that a movie?

[Anonymous No.15449525]

Dream of the Red Chamber is incredible

[Anonymous No.15449540]

>>15437007
gayest shit i've seen all day

[Anonymous No.15449584]

>>15449202
Probably just that it flows better? This is the only picture I can find of the translation if you want to compare it to other translations. I'm comparing it to the Brewitt-Taylor translation and it is pretty different.

[Anonymous No.15449733]

>>15434997
the remains of the day by kazuo ishiguro

[Anonymous No.15449890]

>>15449525
Which translation did you read?

[Anonymous No.15450379]

>>15449584
Thanks anon. I found plenty of Roberts vs B-T, but not much Sumei

[Anonymous No.15450434]

>>15449584

compare the opening lines

>Unity succeeds division and division follows unity. One is bound to be replaced by the other after a long span of time.

with

>The empire, long divided, must unite; long united, must divide. Thus it has ever been.


the choice should be obvious

[Anonymous No.15450462]

>>15450434
One famous opening line might not be indicative of the rest of the work though

[Anonymous No.15450470]

chinese make for some of the worst translators of chinese

[Anonymous No.15450487]

>>15450462
i don't hold out much hope for a work that made it to the presses with that as an opener, why did no one saying anything...

[Anonymous No.15450492]

>>15434997
what else could i choose?

[Anonymous No.15450504]

>>15450492
we're talking about Mao's fave book right above

[Anonymous No.15450510]

>>15450487
I'm confused as to which one is supposed to be the bad one?

[Anonymous No.15450725]

>>15442190
This doesn't seem to have a translation despite being a 27 year old book. How am I supposed to read this?

[Anonymous No.15450768]

>>15450725
学中文,老外傻子。

[Anonymous No.15450780]

>>15442240
Why?

[Anonymous No.15450792]

>>15450768
I do not have the time to do that.

[Anonymous No.15450798]

>>15450792
Then don't read it, I guess.

[Anonymous No.15450990]

>>15439835
that part is great in the movie

[Anonymous No.15451000]

>>15437839
does every good book require existential crises and fornication?

[Anonymous No.15451098]

>>15450990
Which movie? The Cave of the Silken Web (1927), Princess Iron Fan (1941), Alakazam the Great (1960), Havoc in Heaven (1961), Princess Iron Fan (1966), The Cave of the Silken Web (1967), Doraemon: The Record of Nobita's Parallel Visit to the West (1988), A Chinese Odyssey (1995), A Chinese Tall Story (2005), Saiyūki (2007), Monkey King vs. Er Lang Shen (2007), The Forbidden Kingdom (2008), Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons (2013), The Monkey King (2014), Monkey King: Hero Is Back (2015), The Monkey King 2 (2016), A Chinese Odyssey Part Three (2016), Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back (2017), Wu Kong (2017), or The Monkey King 3 (2018)?

[Anonymous No.15451600]

>>15434997
The Analects

[Anonymous No.15451625]

>>15434997
that one where they celebrate cannibalism and generally act like savage animals

which one was that again?

[Anonymous No.15451731]

>>15436974
Journey West?! Me too!

[Anonymous No.15451871]

For me, it's The Three-Body Problem.

[Anonymous No.15451891]

>>15451625
>that one where they celebrate cannibalism
>and generally act like savage animals
>>15434997 fits. >>15451871 too.

[Anonymous No.15451914]

>>15451600
Very degrading.

[Anonymous No.15451920]

>>15451891
I am highly doubtful that such a description applies to a book written in this century.

[Anonymous No.15451956]

>>15451920
Cannibalism is literally the culmination and the central point of >>15451871

[Anonymous No.15451987]

>>15451956
Why do you keep quoting >>15451871? Is the title like Voldemort where you can't say it?

[Anonymous No.15452000]

>>15451987
Hmm... Now that you mention it, let it be this way.

[Anonymous No.15453319]

Morals

[Anonymous No.15453568]

>>15446360
>what am I getting into?
a based fat, glutton drunk BTFO'ing Buddhists and then learning the true meaning of the religion, cheating whores getting murdered and cucks getting blackmailed into joining the rebellion, Li Kui fucking everything up for everyone in every chapter he's in, and the most extreme example of filial piety ever portrayed in fiction

[Anonymous No.15453702]

>>15434997
特色社会主义:
习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想中国
习近平谈治国理政
习近平总书记系列重要讲话读本

[Anonymous No.15453827]

>>15437839
You don’t like The Hobbit :(

[Anonymous No.15454112]

>>15453702
Yeah I doubt any of this is good.

[Anonymous No.15454712]

>>15453827
The world needs to unify very soon, or we are doomed.

[Anonymous No.15454856]

>>15454712
This is it.